Next Man Up: Big Uno Edition

[cole256 17,084]

I think hopefully ok against South c and not good against bammer. This is reminiscent of the Sean White Jeremy Johnson situation

[Guest MustardSeed]

8 hours ago, IronMan70 said:

I think he will take us to a W @ South Car. Some people were saying it was "so unfair" to Finley to come in cold Saturday. They have now found out there was a good reason for it, Bo had a damn broken ankle. It's Finley's job to be ready and "fair" has got nothing to do with it. He will be ready for this game and hopefully do a very fine job. 

Good take. It actually is fair to come into a game cold as a backup. That’s the role every backup plays when they don’t win the starting job. It’s known. He took the role. Had to play his part. Now he will hopefully see some good fruit from his labor. It is written that you can judge a tree by its fruit. We will see if his fruit is ripening or past expiration. He should have 3 games with a bunch of extra practices between the 2nd and 3rd. Chances aren’t always full seasons. Sometimes they are a half of a game. He gets the benefit of knowing he’s the starter ahead of time. He has the opportunity. Now we see if his roots actually support good fruit or if they are too shallow. Hoping for deep roots bearing good fruit. 

[aubaseball 2,629]

10 hours ago, au701948 said:

I genuinely hope TJ and the team get some help from the Offensive and Defensive Coaches this Saturday night or we will get embarrassed at South Carolina. 
Hoping the entire team plays hard for 4 quarters Saturday night like they did for 2 quarter’s yesterday. THAT is the coaches responsibility to find the way to keep them motivated, not just at the start but though to the finish. Close the game out!!

A coach can only motivate to a certain point.   At some point, the captains and leaders of the team have to rally the troops.   There is no leadership from the players.   It’s evident by the complete collapse of the defense and lack of focus and execution by offensive line.   

[AuMarine 1,372]

TJ will have to throw the ball to open up the run. Teams are loading up the box against the run to make us throw it. The OL has been much better at pass protection than run blocking..  

[AuMarine 1,372]

1 hour ago, cole256 said:

I think hopefully ok against South c and not good against bammer. This is reminiscent of the Sean White Jeremy Johnson situation

I think TJ can have a very good game against bama because they are going to load the box to stop the run. with TJs accuracy and throwing into tight windows.. I can see him lighting up the bama secondary which hasn't been good this year. They have given up a lot of yards through the air. 

[TitanTiger 20,499]

What I hope is that he's been studying and keeping himself ready and that getting all the first team reps will result in a winning performance at Carolina and an Iron Bowl that gives us a chance to win.  That's about all one could reasonably ask.

What I fear is more likely is that a whole bunch of folks that think Harsin and Bobo have been missing it on who to play this year are about to learn a hard lesson in "be careful what you wish for."  I've seen it said or hinted on the various Auburn boards that somehow Harsin has been told to play Nix by someone up the food chain, or there's some kind of Daddy Ball Mafia out there influencing the depth chart decisions at QB.  People who think like that are simpletons.

I always want Auburn to win.  My prediction is that TJ/Auburn plays well enough to beat a mediocre South Carolina but gets hammered in the Iron Bowl due to the step down in running and evasiveness from Nix to Finley and him being less adept at reading defenses.  What I hope is that TJ really steps up to make the most of this opportunity and shocks us all and that his size and arm strength somehow make up for those other things and he makes some plays that Nix wasn't able to.  We shall see.

[Mikey 16,638]

2 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

I think the issue is mostly that the only yards available to them is YAC because there is very rarely a legit hole to run through. And the contact is mostly being made behind the line of scrimmage. It has been the case at AU for several years now and I hope we have 5 new starters up front next year. 

I don't know, man. Saturday there was such a big hole that you could hear the fans gasp in anticipation, yet Tank ran into the pile instead. That's not the only time both Hunter and Tank have missed seeing holes, that's just the most glaring example. I'm getting into the "something ain't right" way of thinking about our running backs.

[Gowebb11 9,339]

43 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I don't know, man. Saturday there was such a big hole that you could hear the fans gasp in anticipation, yet Tank ran into the pile instead. That's not the only time both Hunter and Tank have missed seeing holes, that's just the most glaring example. I'm getting into the "something ain't right" way of thinking about our running backs.

We agree that they are having a hard time adjusting to this scheme. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,154]

I want Finley to light it up. This is his opportunity to show why he left LSU and came to Auburn. Now the coaches must adjust the offense to take advantages of his skill set.   He is big and strong and can stand in the pocket, he has a cannon for an arm so the deep ball should be his friend. We finally found a deep threat in Johnson to take advantage of his arm.  

Unlike Bo he is not going to help us in the run game but if we adjust the O to his strength and if the O-Line can pass block for him he could light it up. I am an Auburn fan and I give every Auburn player my full support. 

War Eagle and go Finley.

[TigerPAC 967]

1 minute ago, AuburnNTexas said:

I want Finley to light it up. This is his opportunity to show why he left LSU and came to Auburn. Now the coaches must adjust the offense to take advantages of his skill set.   He is big and strong and can stand in the pocket, he has a cannon for an arm so the deep ball should be his friend. We finally found a deep threat in Johnson to take advantage of his arm.  

Unlike Bo he is not going to help us in the run game but if we adjust the O to his strength and if the O-Line can pass block for him he could light it up. I am an Auburn fan and I give every Auburn player my full support. 

War Eagle and go Finley.

we ALL want this to happen.  get ready for loaded boxes and blitzes galore!

[woodford 3,660]

I’m pulling for him but don’t have much faith. That’s more indicative of this subpar OL and not his QB skills. If he had Ole Miss’ OL or something I think he would be successful. 
 

Hope he lets it rip. Could help his stock for when he transfers in the off season. Wish him nothing but the best. 

[woodford 3,660]

2 hours ago, Mikey said:

I don't know, man. Saturday there was such a big hole that you could hear the fans gasp in anticipation, yet Tank ran into the pile instead. That's not the only time both Hunter and Tank have missed seeing holes, that's just the most glaring example. I'm getting into the "something ain't right" way of thinking about our running backs.

Agreed. I don’t think Tank and Hunter are playing to their best abilities. Starting to think that Tank is a littler overrated bad OL or not. 

[jluvah 668]

I’d rather throw Dematrius Davis in there and ride with him the rest of the year. Wouldn’t burn his redshirt and honestly, he should’ve been Bo’s backup from the start. He was recruited by us and was a recruiter for us last year. Plus, the kid is a gamer( although you wouldn’t know by how many snaps he’s taken at Auburn), as proven by his high school record.

Edited November 15, 2021 by jluvah

[Farmer Brown 2,391]

I read where Finley completed 17-of-21 passes for 265 yards, two passing touchdowns and another one rushing, against SC last year. I would like to see the Oline block good enough for him to duplicate or exceed that performance. Thank you, for something besides a cut and paste article, that we have already read on other news sites, if you know what I mean. 

[oracle79 3,569]

Would be nice to see Bobo design a gameplan around TJ and the O-line. Get him in rythm early with some easy quick throws. Be ready with blitz pickups and hot routes when they bring the house. Make them respect the deep ball. Be ready to gash them with a QB draw at the appropriate time. Hopefully everyone else realizes that they can help by stepping up their game and making TJ look even better than he is.

And if it just isn't working by 3rd quarter, let DD have some snaps.

[milehighfan 1,240]

15 hours ago, ValleyTiger said:

Hopefully this will lead to a renewed focus on the running game. There's been festering issues all season hindering our rush offense and contrary to popular opinion, it's not all the fault of the OL. 

I think TJ can get it done, but just like Bo, he's going to need the guys around him to step it up a notch. 

I fully support T.J. my only drawback is an offensive game plan which relies on our current OL being dominant for four quarters.

[cole256 17,084]

4 hours ago, TitanTiger said:

What I hope is that he's been studying and keeping himself ready and that getting all the first team reps will result in a winning performance at Carolina and an Iron Bowl that gives us a chance to win.  That's about all one could reasonably ask.

What I fear is more likely is that a whole bunch of folks that think Harsin and Bobo have been missing it on who to play this year are about to learn a hard lesson in "be careful what you wish for."  I've seen it said or hinted on the various Auburn boards that somehow Harsin has been told to play Nix by someone up the food chain, or there's some kind of Daddy Ball Mafia out there influencing the depth chart decisions at QB.  People who think like that are simpletons.

I always want Auburn to win.  My prediction is that TJ/Auburn plays well enough to beat a mediocre South Carolina but gets hammered in the Iron Bowl due to the step down in running and evasiveness from Nix to Finley and him being less adept at reading defenses.  What I hope is that TJ really steps up to make the most of this opportunity and shocks us all and that his size and arm strength somehow make up for those other things and he makes some plays that Nix wasn't able to.  We shall see.

What evidence you have to come to the conclusion that he's less adept to reading defenses?

[TitanTiger 20,499]

3 minutes ago, cole256 said:

What evidence you have to come to the conclusion that he's less adept to reading defenses?

Just things I've heard from people who've been privy to the film room study and practice stuff.  I'm not saying he's unable to read defenses, just that reading the defenses and checking out of bad plays was an advantage Bo consistently showed over him.

[DAG 33,997]

3 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Just things I've heard from people who've been privy to the film room study and practice stuff.  I'm not saying he's unable to read defenses, just that reading the defenses and checking out of bad plays was an advantage Bo consistently showed over him.

Which would make sense, since Bo has had a lot more in game experience. I believe in game experience is the best teacher.

[cole256 17,084]

2 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Just things I've heard from people who've been privy to the film room study and practice stuff.  I'm not saying he's unable to read defenses, just that reading the defenses and checking out of bad plays was an advantage Bo consistently showed over him.

It's the showed part I was wondering about. I'll just chalk it up to experience. Bo has a bunch of experience. TJ will still feel jitters and stuff and of course he doesn't have cupcakes to use to build up and gain momentum which would be very helpful

[cole256 17,084]

Just now, DAG said:

Which would make sense, since Bo has had a lot more in game experience. I believe in game experience is the best teacher.

Lol I read this after I clicked post. Look what I wrote

[TitanTiger 20,499]

Just now, cole256 said:

It's the showed part I was wondering about. I'll just chalk it up to experience. Bo has a bunch of experience. TJ will still feel jitters and stuff and of course he doesn't have cupcakes to use to build up and gain momentum which would be very helpful

I believe he had the same issue at LSU, which was why he was beaten out for the starting job there.

I'm sure experience helps.  But some guys get experience and get significantly better at it, and some don't.  I don't know which one TJ will be yet.  Just trying to give my take on what you gain vs what you lose going from Bo to TJ right now with two games left in the season.

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

Just now, milehighfan said:

I fully support T.J. my only drawback is an offensive game plan which relies on our current OL being dominant for four quarters.

Be nice to have a dominating offensive line. There's a few in college football every year and they typically lead their teams' to championships or at least the playoffs.

[cole256 17,084]

Just now, TitanTiger said:

I believe he had the same issue at LSU, which was why he was beaten out for the starting job there.

I'm sure experience helps.  But some guys get experience and get significantly better at it, and some don't.  I don't know which one TJ will be yet.  Just trying to give my take on what you gain vs what you lose going from Bo to TJ right now with two games left in the season.

Well I haven't seen where Bo has been great at reading defenses. I'm assuming all the QB's are improving as far as working with this coaching staff. I don't have anybody in the qb room personally. Still have a few on the team though. It's not a question I have asked though.

As far as experience, that's huge. When the game starts slowing down and you're just focused on the game and not all the other outside stuff I'd say it's the most influential thing as far as a guy that hasn't been playing as opposed to a guy that has

[TitanTiger 20,499]

1 minute ago, cole256 said:

Well I haven't seen where Bo has been great at reading defenses. I'm assuming all the QB's are improving as far as working with this coaching staff. I don't have anybody in the qb room personally. Still have a few on the team though. It's not a question I have asked though.

Bo is actually pretty good at diagnosing it pre snap.  But that doesn't mean he always makes the right decision when under pressure or if a WR isn't where he's expected to be, etc.

Also, saying Bo is better than TJ at it right now isn't necessarily the same thing as saying Bo is great at it.  Bo might just be "pretty good" in grand scheme of things at this aspect, but still better than the other options on the bench.

 

1 minute ago, cole256 said:

As far as experience, that's huge. When the game starts slowing down and you're just focused on the game and not all the other outside stuff I'd say it's the most influential thing as far as a guy that hasn't been playing as opposed to a guy that has

Yeah, experience is almost always going to be helpful.  It's just not necessarily a cure-all.  And it's especially difficult to measure when there are so many other deficiencies on the offensive side of the ball.